


Come Inside

by Baroness_Blixen



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Post-Episode: s11e05 Ghouli, family fic, mulder and scully deserve happiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-06-12 22:24:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15350055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baroness_Blixen/pseuds/Baroness_Blixen
Summary: Mulder and Scully fear that they'll never get to know their son, but they're in for a surprise.





	Come Inside

On their way home Scully cradles the surveillance tape in her arms like a baby. Her fingers dig into the plastic afraid to let go for even one moment. Mulder glances over every once in a while, unable to utter a single word. His own fingers tingle, his lips twitch. As soon as they‘re home he is going to make copies. Those few minutes with their son are all they have now and he is going to make damn sure they‘re not going to lose even a single second of it.

Scully is quiet in the passenger seat as exhaustion tightens its grip on her; Mulder keeps glancing over making sure she is comfortable and once she falls asleep, he slows the car, makes sure she gets to catch up on some much needed sleep. It might be his own own exhaustion that’s slowly seeping into his mind and his eyes, but Mulder has the distinctive feeling of being followed. He checks his rear-view mirror every few moments, but whenever there is a car in the distance it is not the one he wants to see. Wishful thinking, he tells himself. William, or Jackson, is not going to follow them. Their son is on his own way, on his own route to somewhere. Mulder glances over at Scully, fast asleep. There is no regret this time, not even an inkling of it. He smiles, thinks of their son. He wonders what kind of music the boy will listen to, where he will decide to stop the car, what he will do. Mulder wishes he could witness it, be there. Some things however are not meant to be. 

By the time they get home, it is dark. Scully doesn’t wake as Mulder steers the car over the popping gravel and parks by the porch. He doesn’t want to wake her. Her face is relaxed, seems happy. What if she’s dreaming about William? Watching her sleep is an indulgence. She’d kick his ass if she knew about it. That thought alone makes him smile. 

“Scully?” He says in a gentle, quiet voice. She stirs, but doesn’t wake. Mulder unbuckles her seat belt and the click is loud in the car. Scully sighs in her sleep, holds the tape in her hand more tightly. 

“We’re home, Scully.” A soft kiss on her cheek and a smile appears on her face. “You just have to wake up.” She grumbles, grunts. “Fine. I can carry you inside.” Mulder gets out of the car and opens the door to her side. Tired eyes and a smile blink at him.

“Here,” she hands him the tape, the plastic warm against his fingers, “let’s watch it again.” 

Mulder doesn’t know how often they watch it; they keep falling asleep, wake up and stare in wonderment, before sleep captures them once more. But now, shortly after 2 am, Mulder is awake. He tears his eyes away from the screen, away from his son and Scully. He knows the sequence by heart already and yet it never fails to amaze him. Mulder walks into the kitchen, yawns and scratches his chin. His mouth is dry and he pours himself a glass of water. As he gulps it down, he sees it: there is something, someone, out there in front of the house. Mulder doesn’t know where his gun is. But somehow he feels calm, feels like he doesn’t need to protect himself after all. He steps through the front door unarmed and hopes it doesn’t squeak. He is in luck tonight.

Darkness out here is something he had to get used to back then. Now he knows it, can navigate in it easily. There is a car right next to his hiding in plain sight. Mulder recognizes it; how could he not? He’s only seen it a hundred, no, a thousand times flickering over the screen tonight. His heart is so quick, so loud that he fears he will frighten the boy away. But as he comes closer he sees him there in the driver seat fast asleep. Mulder watches for a moment in disbelief. William, or Jackson, whatever he wants to be called – their son – is here. He is here at their house, in his car and sleeping. Just like your mother, Mulder thinks and smiles.

He’s seen this face often now; so often in fact that it feels familiar. He knows this boy, this young man. At least in his heart he does and that’s enough. The boy licks his lips in his sleep and then, as if he’s never even been asleep, wakes up and blinks up at Mulder. No matter how often he’s seen the video, this moment does it no justice. If he thought he knew this boy, and he did until five seconds ago, he was wrong. The eyes tell him everything. They’re dark now (but Mulder knew that), but still Scully’s. The color doesn’t matter. He opens his mouth and says something. Maybe his son’s name. The boy furrows his brows and throws him a shy, lopsided grin. They stare at each other, two strangers yet father and son. William’s mouth moves, but Mulder can’t hear any words. The boy laughs and Mulder wishes he could hear it. He needs to hear it. Come inside, he thinks. William stares at him through the window, their eyes meeting there.

“Come inside,” he repeats louder this time. The boy doesn’t move. If he starts the car and drives away, Scully will never forgive him. They’ve lost him once, twice, and if he counts the gas station then it makes three times. He is not going to let go of him a fourth time. He gently knocks against the window, smiles. There’s a dad joke here, he thinks. Later, maybe. Hopefully. 

“Come inside,” Mulder says. He almost screams it into the night. A moment passes, but Mulder doesn’t lose hope. Not when it comes to his son. The car door opens with a soft click and a longer creak. The last time Mulder was this close to William was a few days after his birth. His small, gentle body fit perfectly into the crook of his arm. Now the boy, the young man, stands before him, looks him into the eyes, and is only a few inches shorter than himself. 

“I went into the other direction first but… this was the only place I wanted to go.” Mulder nods as if understanding. He reaches out his hand, but doesn’t quite dare touch the boy.

“You’re always welcome here. Always.”

“I shouldn’t be here. My parents,” he looks at Mulder, pauses just a second, “my other parents are dead because of me. I don’t even know you. I don’t want to put you in danger.” His eyes move about quickly, like a scared animal’s. Mulder takes a deep breath, bridges the distance and touches his son’s narrow shoulder. Still a kid. His son, after all he’s seen and done, is still just a kid.

“We can protect you. We will.” It’s enough. For right now, for 2 am on a cold day in Virgina, it is enough. They walk side by side, their steps matching, inside the house. Mulder wonders what the boy sees, thinks. He won’t ask. Mulder puts his hand on his back and he doesn’t startle. Scully is still asleep, oblivious. The screen shows her and William at the gas station and Mulder hears his son gasp. 

“We thought it’s all we would ever have." 

"Mulder, what…” His voice wakes Scully. Though from her face Mulder can tell that she thinks she is still dreaming. He stares at their son, then at Mulder briefly, before her eyes fixate on the boy again. “You’re here. You’re really here.” She gets up as if in slow motion and then she takes the young man into her arms, holds him tight, as if he’s done it a million times. They’re mother and son; they’re no strangers. 

“Welcome home, Jackson.”

“That’s not who I am anymore,” he says, stepping away from her, “That is not the name you gave me. Is it?" 

"No, we called you William,” Mulder says and the boy looks at him, mouths the name to try it out.

“We’ll call you whatever you want to be called,” Scully says and throws Mulder a look. He can’t help but grin.

“Is that like an inside joke I don’t get?” William wants to know; he is William now, Mulder thinks. Their son. Their perfect miracle baby almost grown up. But only almost. Tonight is an interlude; they will have to deal with the boy’s trauma, losing his parents, his seizures. The end of the world. But that’s for tomorrow. They will have to get to know each other all over again. A few days make him no father; the year Scully spent being his mother has never been enough. They can start tonight. 

“I’ll tell you all about it,” Scully says with her voice full of promise. They sit together on the couch, all three of them, without a single touch of awkwardness between them. It’s the way it should have been from the start. Mulder hears his son’s laughter finally, sees Scully’s awe on her face. Tonight it’s enough.


End file.
